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Jan 7, 2025 11:24 pm

Golf Glance: Hideki Matsuyama chasing ‘Hawaiian Double’ at Waialae

hideki matsuyama, tee

PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: The Sentry (Hideki Matsuyama)
THIS WEEK: Sony Open, Honolulu, Jan. 9-12
Course: Waialae Country Club (Par 70, 7,044 Yards)
Purse: $8.7M (Winner: $1.566M)
Defending Champion: Grayson Murray
FedEx Cup leader: Matsuyama
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 7-10:30 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday: 4-6 p.m. (NBC/Peacock), 6-8 p.m. (GC)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday: 12-10:30 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday: 1-8 p.m.
X: @SonyOpenHawaii
NOTES: This is the first full-field event of the 2025 season, with 35 players in the 144-player field having competed in The Sentry last week. … Murray died last May by suicide following a lengthy battle with mental health and addiction. His parents this week announced the formation of the Grayson Murray foundation. Murray beat Keegan Bradley and Ben An in a playoff last year for his second career PGA Tour victory, following his maiden title at the 2017 Barbasol Championship. … Ricky Castillo is one of 25 new PGA Tour members in the field. The former University of Florida star is of Filipino decent, and his grandparents immigrated to Hawaii. Other tour rookies include three Japanese players: Rikuya Hoshino, Kaito Onishi and Takumi Kanaya. … Nick Dunlap, who in 2024 became the first player in tour history to win as an amateur and a professional in the same season, will make his event debut. … Justin Thomas shot a course-record 59 in the first round in 2017 en route to winning the event with a 72-hole record score of 253.
BEST BETS: Matsuyama (+900 at DraftKings) finished T30 and T48 the past two years here, but the 2022 Sony Open winner is coming off a record-setting victory at Kapalua following a T2 in Japan to close out 2024. He’s also the top-ranked player in the field at No. 5. … Corey Conners (+1400) also started the year strong with a T5 on Maui for his third consecutive finish or T7 or better worldwide. … Tom Kim (+2000) has a pair of runner-ups in his past three starts, including at the Hero World Challenge in his most recent event. … Russell Henley (+2000) has an excellent track record at Waialae that includes a win in 2013, a runner-up in 2022 and a T4 last years. … An (+2800) finished T2 last year while carding four rounds of 68 or better. … Luke Clanton (+3000) isn’t just the world’s top-ranked amateur, he’s ranked 87th in the world overall. He has a pair of top-5 in his past three PGA Tour starts. … Austin Eckroat (+3500) is already a two-time winner on tour and coming off a solid T15 at Kapalua.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: The American Express, La Quinta, Calif., Jan. 16-19

–Field Level Media

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